Xinhua, United Nations :
Africa’s small businesses are key to economic growth, and joint ventures with Chinese companies can help, Ibrahim
Mayaki, CEO of the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa Development, has said.
Mayaki, who was prime minister of Niger from 1997 to 2000, said that boosting
Chinese joint ventures with African companies to the next level could help see
Africa move towards more value added industries.
“I don’t think Chinese investors really need advice,” Mayaki said in an interview with Xinhua during Africa Week, a week of Africa-related events at
United Nations headquarters on Oct. 12-16.
“The small-scale entrepreneurs, big firms, they have done joint ventures with the African domestic private sector (for many years), we just need to boost that movement in order to reach another level,” he said.
The process has already begun in Ethiopia and Kenya where Mayaki said China has relocated some of its industries and trained local staff to work in them.
He said although industrialization was an important objective, reaching the objective would involve focusing attention now on small businesses, which play a significant role in Africa’s economies. These small businesses include smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs in the informal sector, he said.
“Smallholder farmers are feeding Africa today,” said Mayaki, adding that “80 percent of the food we eat is produced by smallholder farmers.” The majority of smallholder farmers are women, he said, and governments could help them to learn new skills in areas such as management, climate change adaptation and market access.
Africa’s small businesses are key to economic growth, and joint ventures with Chinese companies can help, Ibrahim
Mayaki, CEO of the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa Development, has said.
Mayaki, who was prime minister of Niger from 1997 to 2000, said that boosting
Chinese joint ventures with African companies to the next level could help see
Africa move towards more value added industries.
“I don’t think Chinese investors really need advice,” Mayaki said in an interview with Xinhua during Africa Week, a week of Africa-related events at
United Nations headquarters on Oct. 12-16.
“The small-scale entrepreneurs, big firms, they have done joint ventures with the African domestic private sector (for many years), we just need to boost that movement in order to reach another level,” he said.
The process has already begun in Ethiopia and Kenya where Mayaki said China has relocated some of its industries and trained local staff to work in them.
He said although industrialization was an important objective, reaching the objective would involve focusing attention now on small businesses, which play a significant role in Africa’s economies. These small businesses include smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs in the informal sector, he said.
“Smallholder farmers are feeding Africa today,” said Mayaki, adding that “80 percent of the food we eat is produced by smallholder farmers.” The majority of smallholder farmers are women, he said, and governments could help them to learn new skills in areas such as management, climate change adaptation and market access.
